Electronically controlled motor



Dec. 26, 1961 F. THOMA ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED MOTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 11, 1957 INVENTOR. 2743;; f/zomcz,

Dec. 26, 1961 F. THOMA 3,01

ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED MOTOR Filed Jan. 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. fizz; Thom,

3,015,054 ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED MOTOR Fritz Thoma, St. Georgen, Black Forest, Germany, as-' signor to Kieninger 8; Obergfell, St. Georgen, Black Forest, Germany, a German company Filed Jan. 11, 1957, Ser. No. 633,701 Claims priority, application Germany Jan. 14, 1956 3 Claims. (Cl. 318-47) This invention relates to electronic machines and is particularly concerned'with an electronic drive for clocks.

The machine according to the invention may be selectively operated as an electric motor or as a generator. The details maybe disposed according to the purpose to which the arrangement is put.

The motor according to the invention comprises a per-' manent magnet in the form of a rod or a rotor, disposed rotatably relative to a plurality of coils in such a manner that a voltage is induced in one of said coils which is connected in the input circuit of a transistor, such voltage afiecting the transistor, thereby generating a field in a second coil disposed in the output circuit which affects the magnet rod or rotor in a driving sense operating in the direction of rotation thereof. I

The motor according to the invention exhibits a particular feature, namely, that it may also be operated as an. alternatingv current generator, simply by tapping an alternating voltage from the terminals of the output-circuit. The frequency of the corresponding alternating voltage is equal to the number of r.p.m. of the rotating 30 magnet rod, being higher, however, in the case of a rotor provided-with more than one pair of magnet poles.

"In accordance 'with the invention, the'frequency of the alternating current may be stabilized by the provision of a-spiral-spring upon the drive shaft of the device. frequency is in this manner determined by the centrifugal f mass upon the drive shaft and by the torque of the spiral spring..- ,3 r :j'if .Thearrangement according to the invention may also 2 rotor in the direction of rotation thereof; "It is in this connection assumed, of course, that the coils 2 and 3 cooperate in proper manner.

FIG. 2 shows a particularly favorable arrangement of 5 the coils 2 and 3. These coils are wound and disposed so that they embrace the magnet system 6, being spaced therefrom by the smallest air gap possible. Numeral 7 in FIG. 2 indicates a centrifugal mass made of non-magnetic material such .as brass or copper and dimensioned so as to provide at a given voltage of the battery 5 for rotation of the magnet 6 with desired r.p.m.

M FIG. 3 shows the manner of disposing upon the shaft 8 of the rotating magnet a spiral spring 9. This spring, together with the fly wheel mass 7 determines the mechanical oscillation of the system and therewith the frequency quency.

The resistor 4 shown in FIG. 1 may be dimensioned so as to counteract the tendency of the transistor to oscillate. In case of using the arrangement as a D.C.-A.C. converter, the resistor 4 will constitute the load and will be connected to the terminals of the coil 3 as shown in FIG. 2.

' A particularly important feature of the described arrangement resides in using it as a motor with a mechani-' cal enregy storagemeans connected in back of the mechanical oscillating system, the..storage means in turn driving a clock. .This form of the inventionaccordingly is'concerned-with an electric clock supplied from a direct current source, comprising a mechanical drive control to which'are conducted by a suitable clutch, periodically e elfetive impulses,: from a'fdrivi'ng' device, and

whdselwdrking rliythm"is 'aflfecte'd by thedrive control. "'The *drive' c'ontrol' is 11 1: connection the mechanical oscillating device, described" above, which maybe provi'dedgfof example, with anelastic' restoring'jineans. The

beviewed in the nature of :a D.C-.A.C. converter by con--: 40 e ha'nieal'oseillating device may be supplied bykn own 2 shows the arrangement of the coils forthe de vice according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another'view of the arrangementshown FIG. 2; 1

FIG. 4 shows details of the structure; and

FIG.-5 shows an embodiment comprising certain fea- 65 tures of the invention.

If the arrangementis to be used as. a D.C.-.A.C. converter, the battery 5 will supply the required voltage which is to be converted. The frequency isdete'rmined by the r.p.m. of a magnet rod 6; higher frequencies may be easily obtained by operating with the same r.p.m. but using in place of the magnet rod-6 a rotor having more than a pair of magnet poles.

The arrangement according to FIG. 1 may also be o erated as a DC. motor by disposing a permanent magnet made in the form of a rod. .6 or in theform of a rotor rotatably relative to a plurality of coils in such a manner. that upon rotation of ther od 6 in a predetermined direction, a Voltage'is induced in the coil 2, which is disposed accompanying drawings. In tha greatest ltinetic energyfl'. I

AneXa-I nple of the above indicated partof the invention is shown iii FIG. 4. The reference numerals appearing transistor f eedback circuitmea ns driving the oscillating Y system '(pendulnm or'balanc'e)' whicli in rura drives the features of -the.invention :will

clock mechanism; the arrangement being such that neither contacts noncommutator means are required, and

ner that force is transmitted thereto only at instants of in'the'se figuresicorr'esppnd to those applied in FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of parts in the case of an electronically controlled clock.

Referring now"to FI G.'4, shaft '8 which carries the magnet rod 6 'also'controls a pawl 9 for actuating a gear wheel '10 and therewith a pinion-11 meshing with'a friction clutch" wheel 12 to 'tension a spring 13 acting as a power storage device. The. spring 13 may be made in the form of a spiral spring or in the form of a helical spring. This spring acts with sufliciently constant power on the drive shaft 14 and the balance 15, respectively.

In accordance with the invention, the described device may -'be further-improved by coupling the rotor of the DC. motor--which is' driven from a transistor circuit or another semiconductor circuit, for example, a double-base diode arrangement-with at least one other substantially similar rotor'soas to afiect either'the torque or the frequency of the drive shaft.

In accordance with a particular embodiment of the inin the input circuit of a transistor. Such voltage is amat least two similar Toto" disposed on pli-fied by the transistor and generates a field in the coil 3 which acts in a driving sense upon the magnet rod or the and the same shaft of the DO. motor or converter device, respectively. These rotors are made in the form acting upon the coupling or clutch means in such a manof magnet rods or rotors provided with poles, each hav ing allotted thereto at least one suitably dimensioned magnet coil. By proper dimensioning and interconnecting the individual coils,,it is in accordance with the invention possible, to provide. more turns for themotor coil arrangement disposed in the output circuit of the serni conductor device and driving the mechanical rotary. part, than on the coil arrangement which is disposed in the input side of the switching or amplifier arrangement, re-, spectively, and in which is induced a voltage by the operation of the rotating part. The corresponding arrangernentlincreascs the. output of the apparatus and there.- with thetorque of the drive shaft of the motor or the electromotive power in the outputof the D.C.-A.C. converter.

By using a total of three rotors with respectively accurately similar symmetric pairs of coils it is possible, to connect, for example, one coil as a generatorcoil and the remaining coils as motor coils. There are for each rotor initially provided two or more similar coils sym metrically disposed, and, having terminals that maybe interconnected as desired.

It is furthermorecontemplated to arrangethe, shafts of the various rotors so that they may be removably joined or coupled. or otherwise mounted for operation in common, so as to provide in this manner aggregates composed of desired numbers of It is'in accordance with another featureof. the invention possible to control the frequency of a. DC, motor and especially to stabilize it by coupling its rotor for synchronization with, at least one other rotor, for example, a rotor'of a synchronous motor. The synchro-. nous motor may in such a case determine the frequency of the DC. motor or the latter may operate as a starter therefor which is automatically disconnectedat the. instant when the synchronous motor attains its. synchronous-p speed.

The arrangement according to the. invention.rnay iriaccordance with still anotherfeature. be madesso as to. operate as frequency divider or as; a frequency multiplier, preferably within a frequency range below 1000. cycles, by addition of further rotors coupled to the. same shaft.. According to theinvention, this-may be done by connecting to the drive shaft, rotors having different numbers of poles. From the coils allotted to the rotors may be obtained electric currents or voltages of the desired frequencies. Desired frequency division may be obtained by utilizing intermediate frequencies of two or more rotors. Several sets of, rotors for different, frequency spectrums corresponding to the respectively intended'use may be provided for an aggregate. formed. by: a DC. motor and frequency stabilizer. The desired frequencies with, suificient current and voltage values-may be obtained by applying in the arrangementadditional rotors. for for increasing the output as. explained before.

The above indicatedpart of the invention is,schemati-- cally indicated in FIG. 5. At 6 is shown arotor which is disposed upon a shaft 8 .for rotation with. respect to two, coils 2 and 3. The coil 2 is connectedin the. input circuit of the transistor 1 and serves as a generator coil in which voltage impulses are produced by induction due torotation of the rotor 6. These. impulses control thegtranesistor which thus. permits corresponding pulses to. flowfrom battery 5. acting as an energy source. The current impulses generate in the motor coil 3 a magnetic, field for driving the rotor. 6. A resistor 4 is disposed in parallel to the coil 3 forsuppressing the-tendency of the tramsistor-to oscillate.

In accordance with the invention, thereis provided another rotor 18 on the shaft 8 which has the same .num- 7 ber of poles as the rotor 6 or is: otherwise in a corresponding ratio thereto, the rotor 18. serving for'the syn.- chronization of the rotor 6. The rotor 18 is driven by a coil 19 which is excitedby an A.C. generator 20 comprising a transistor 17 biased by; a, DC source 22and'16 fhjpmosa.

supplied from a suitable A.C. source. The shaft 8 is by the cooperation of the rotors 6 and 18 rotated with a frequency that is stabilized by the generator 20. The torque of the shaft is essentially determined by the transistor arrangement 32.

In v view of the relatively high torque of the shaft 8, it is possible to arrange thereon further rotors 23, 24, 25

and 26, such rotors having different numbers of poles; accordingly, alternating voltages with frequencies of 50526,0 "and cycles, respectively, may be obtained at the terminals of the corresponding coils 27, 28, 29 and 30.

The arrangement according to the invention permits production of all conceivable normal frequencies by suitably coupling thereto additional rotors. Theoutput capacity. of the arrangement may be dimensioned as desired forall practical applications by connecting to the tram sistor 1 additional coil combinations respectively coactingwith rotors similar to the rotor-6.

An aggregate 31,- may be connected to the coil 30,-

serving for purposes of control, remote transmission and the like. Thisaggregate may be analogous to the arrangement shown at 32, comprising an amplifying and/or switching transistor 33, a voltage source 34 and a relay' 35. Numeral 36 indicates. a clutch that may he provided.

Changes may be made within the scope and spirit of theappended claims.

I,claim: t 1. An electrical machine comprising a transistor, a. plu= rality of coil means respectively disposed in the input and output-circuit of said transistor, rotor-means disposed forrotation between said coil means, voltage incident to rotationof saidrotor-means. being. induced in the coil means. disposed in the input circuit ofsaid transistor and a field being generated in the coil means disposed in the output! circuit thereof which acts in a driving sense upon said-rotor means,.a.resistor connected in parallel with one of said coil means'efor'suppressing the tendency of said transistor to oscillate, a second substantially similar rotor means operatively connected to said first rotor for rotation therewith, separate coil means for said second rotor means, and v means for applying control pulses to said last mentioned coil means whereby said second rotor means determines the frequency of saidjfirst rotor means.

2. An arrangement and cooperation of parts according to claiml comprising at least one additional rotor-having a number of poles different from that of said first and second named rotors, a generator coil for induction coaction with said additional rotor, said generator coil aotingjas. a, frequency transmitter. I

3,. An; arrangement: and cooperation of parts according to claim 2, comprising at least two rotor means producing frequenciesutili'zed for frequency division.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS (Other references on followi g p g 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Brailsford July 3, 1956 Hamilton Aug. 7, 1956 'Brialsford Nov. 6, 1956 Sargeant Apr. 1, 1958 5 Van Overbeek Apr. 15, 1958 6 Lehman et a1 Jan. 6, 1959 Guyton July 14, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS France Oct. 20, 1954 France NOV. 10, 1954 

